Forever
by Legna the Sorcerer
Summary: Weddings are normally a joyous event between two loved ones. This wedding reminds one person of his past love, and more.


**Author's Note**: This is my 100th submission to the fan fiction category on deviantART. One of my friends wanted me to write that 100th fic that focused on Sieghart. I've wanted to do something like this for awhile, but I think I failed. Meh. I tried, haven't written anything in awhile, so please excuse me. Title idea is Yume's cause I don't know what else to title this.

* * *

Today was such a joyous day!

. . . I guess.

Truthfully, I didn't want to be here today but my daughter begged me to attend, and who was I to deny her this small wish? Not like I really denied her much in the first place. . . But she _is_ all I have, so. . .

But why did I have to wear a damned tux? I mean, it's really. . . stiff. And formal. And truthfully, I'm not one to do "formal" any longer. . . I suppose you lose some things after being alive for over six-hundred years and counting. At least I look good in this. . .

"Hey, pay attention!" someone yelled in my ear.

Damned elf.

"Right, right," I grumbled.

Looking to my left, I saw the fiery-red color of my daughter's hair. She looked over at me and gave me a shy smile. I knew how much she hated to wear a dress because it would get in her way of fighting monsters, but I had to admit, she did look. . . beautiful.

I mean, that off-white, silky dress she wore seemed to go with hair somehow. Maybe it just made her look a little more like fire. I wondered about that bouquet she held in one hand, though. She had to hold a bunch of flowers now?

"Why the flowers, sweetheart?" I asked as I held out my hand for her to take.

"Because they asked, father," she answered as she took my hand, her other hand still holding the flowers.

"Seems odd," I replied as we walked forward down the aisle, past the seats decorated with streamers and flowers.

My daughter snorted slightly before she said, "When's the last time you've attended a wedding again?"

"Can't remember." I shrugged. I was just too. . . busy.

Well, there was one wedding I would always remember, and that was my own wedding. . .

For some reason, I didn't remember much, despite it having happened so recently, but I did remember standing on a raised platform in some formal suit, waiting. . . Waiting for the one that I would whisper sweet words to, the one I would spend my her whole life with, the one I would cherish and forever love, the one I would have my only children with. . .

Forever. . . Only. . . Those words. . .

Those words are meaningless to me. Forever alive, immortal my whole life, cursed to never die. Blessed with a curse in disguise. Forever I would always watch my loved ones die, one after the other.

My wife. . . My children. . .

I saw my wife die before my very eyes, slaughtered like an animal. . . I was grateful then that my children hadn't seen the horrendous act, but I had to tell them something. . . anything. . . And then I had to raise the two alone.

We could have been _fine_ if only it weren't for Kaze'aze.

It was her fault I had to leave my children. . . I was sent to find her, to leave my children alone after a fragile time where war had ravaged the land. If only it was easy, but that witch had devised clever plots and traps to kill us all, all but I.

And then I was lost for a good two years. But I believed that my daughter could take care of my son, she was strong and could protect him. After all, I taught both of them how to wield a sword, and I knew how much Elesis cared for her younger brother.

"Father?"

Elesis's voice snapped me out of my memories.

I did a quick glance around to realize that we had reached the end of the aisle and that we had to separate now and take our seats. So, I let go of my daughter's hand and walked to the end of the row and took a seat there, letting out a small, hopefully unnoticeable sigh.

Lire and Ryan came down the aisle together next before separating and taking their seats, then Ronan and Jin together, who both came down the same row with a grimace. I couldn't help but let out a grin; those two didn't have their girls because I took Elesis and Amy, the flower girl, was now throwing flowers down the aisle. She skipped down the aisle happily, throwing various flowers and flower petals all over the aisle, sometimes actually hitting someone with a flower. Once she was done, she ran back up the aisle and disappeared somewhere.

She was too cheery.

Then Lassy came down the aisle, alone, dressed in a tux, his short hair fixed up nicely and cleanly, looking almost dorkish. He walked down the aisle before he walked up the steps onto the platform. There was a priest there, waiting, smiling. The thief and priest took up a light conversation together as we all now waited.

We didn't have long to wait.

All conversation came to a close as two people appeared from the corner Amy had originally disappeared to. The two were Amy and Arme.

Arme had a lilac-colored veil that covered her face so I couldn't even see her expression. I knew it was that shorty due to the coloring of her dress and her short stature. Bet she was nervous.

I think I remembered there being music at my wedding, which there was a lack of now. Maybe they didn't like that mind-numbing music.

For some reason, I felt a pang of sadness as I watched Arme walk up the aisle onto the platform with Amy holding the back end of the dress up. It reminded me of my own wedding.

I decided to drown out all the words, all the sounds, all the noises, and just watched.

The veil was lifted to reveal such a happy, blushing mage. The priest spoke some words, words of binding, and asked the typical questions of, "Do you take so-and-so to be your lawfully wedded husband/wife?" followed by the typical "I do." End with a kiss, cheers, throwing of streamers and confetti and flowers. So similar, yet so different.

And then the party. . .

I couldn't help it; I felt immense sadness at all this. It sounds so. . .

I do want these kids to be happy. After all, they deserved it. But I just couldn't watch.

No one seemed to mind when I left; it was a miracle for Sieghart the grumpy-pants to attend a wedding without doing something stupid or rude, after all.

I walked and I walked and I walked until I arrived at a familiar house; the house where my family used to live. It looked pretty undisturbed and abandoned. Upon trying the door, I found it to be unlocked, so I went in, not even surprised to find out that nothing was missing.

The stairs creaked slightly as I headed upstairs and entered the room I told the kids not to ever enter unless they wanted to get fed to the slimes. Like the rest of the house, it looked undisturbed. The king-sized bed, in the left of the room, with its cream-colored sheets and flat pillows looked inviting. There was only a single wooden desk and a single wooden chair opposite the bed. The only closet in the room was empty except for a box of clothes.

None of that interested me.

The only thing I was interested in wasn't even visible.

The bedsheets were a little dusty but soft, and they came off the bed easily. I wonder if this house would be inhabited again any time soon.

The mattress seemed a little heavy, but I managed to lift it up easily to reveal the bed-frame. There was a barely-noticeable square of discolored wood that came out easily, revealing a little brown box, which I took out.

I replaced the block off wood, the mattress, and even made the bed, despite the fact that no one would probably sleep in this bed for a while longer.

Was the party over yet? Who was next to get married?

The sun was just barely above the horizon as I looked out the window before sitting down on the edge of the bed.

My hand shook slightly as I took the lid off the brown box to reveal a small, golden ring. It was nothing fancy, just a band of gold and a little scratched. The ring felt cold as I picked it up gently and held it in the palm of my hand. There were some words engraved on the inner part of the ring that she had insisted on.

"_Together forever_"

I never told her about my immortality directly, only hinted at it. She never asked about it. She told me that she would love me forever, no matter what secrets I held.

The ring seemed so small in my hand, even though that was my ring.

"If only I wasn't immortal," I whispered as I closed my hand and brought it close to my mouth. "If only the Gods hadn't chosen to save me. I just wanted a normal life with a normal family and a normal lifespan. Why me?"

At least those kids would be happy together, able to die and leave the world to see their beloveds again in the afterlife. Meanwhile, I would be cursed to wander this world even after everything was gone.


End file.
